Page 218 of Finding Us

The maintenance building is just a few feet away so I speed up and duck behind it. I’m thinking I should wait here until they go away. I don’t want them seeing me.

I hear one of the guys yell, “What the fuck?”

I peek out the side of the building and see the burglar/drug dealer’s body on the ground. Did he pass out? I see a line of blood coming from his head, pooling on the ground. Oh my God. I think he’s been shot.

Shit! This is bad. Really, really bad.

What is going on here? Did the grad student shoot him? I didn’t even hear a gun go off. Maybe he has a silencer on it.

My heart’s racing, my breathing shallow. I remain hidden behind the maintenance building.

“Somebody help!” I hear the grad student yell.

I peek out again and see him holding his phone in the air, like he’s trying to find a signal. Why is he calling for help if he shot the guy?

As I’m watching him, I see the phone drop from his hand and he staggers back. He falls to the ground, blood streaming down his face.

Holy crap! He just got shot, too!

Who shot him? Is someone hiding in the bushes? Or maybe behind a car?

I get my phone out. I need to call the police and get someone out here as fast as possible.

My phone is on, but when I dial 9-1-1 nothing happens. I check my phone. The battery’s charged but there’s no signal. How could there be no signal? I always have a signal on campus.

I have to get out of here. But what if the shooter’s close to me? What if the person is on the other side of the maintenance building?

The gate that leads back to campus isn’t that far away. If I ran really fast, I might be able to make it before this person sees me. But if the shooterdoessee me, he’ll shoot me. And I’ll be dead like the two guys in the parking lot.

I can’t believe this is happening! I just wanted to take a quick walk before meeting up with Garret. And now I might end up getting killed! Shit!

My eyes are still on the gate. I have to do it. I have to make a run for it. I’m a runner. I can sprint to the gate.

I take off and in four long strides I’m there. But the gate won’t open! I try the handle over and over again, checking behind me to see if someone’s there. I don’t see anyone, but I didn’t see the shooter when he took down those guys either.

The gate is at least eight feet high. I don’t think I can climb it. And even if I could, I’d be making myself an even more obvious target and get shot for sure. I wiggle the handle on the gate, then yank on it repeatedly. It still won’t open. And then it hits me. The gate is locked. It’s another security measure to keep unauthorized people from getting on campus. The faculty who use this parking lot must have a key or some other way to open it.

Now my only option is to turn around and walk back to the street, so that’s what I do, hoping the shooter doesn’t notice me. I walk at a normal pace and reach in my backpack and pull out my headphones, pretending I’m just a college student headed to class, having no idea what just happened.

I make it all the way down the side street, then turn onto the main street and keep walking. There are people all around me and I’m finally able to breathe. I pick up my pace and when I reach the front entrance of the campus, I stop at the security guard station.

“I heard some guy’s fighting up by the library,” I say to the campus cop. “You should go check it out. They sounded really angry.”

“Can you show me where?”

I didn’t want to get involved in this, but I have to get help. Maybe one of those guys is still alive.

“Yeah, it was up the hill, behind the fence,” I say as the campus cop follows me.

As we’re walking, I get my phone out and check the signal. It’s back. What the hell? I see Garret up ahead, waiting for me in front of the library. I text him because I don’t want to tell him about this with the campus cop next to me.

My text reads,Something happened. Can’t explain. I’m walking toward you with a campus cop. Meet up with me. Go along with what I say.

“So you said you heard a fight?” the cop asks.

“Yeah. It was really loud.” I shrug. “But maybe it was nothing.”

Garret walks over to us, a worried look on his face.

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